US adds WeChat, AliExpress to list of piracy markets

The United States has added WeChat’s e-commerce ecosystem and AliExpress, an e-commerce site owned by Alibaba, to an annual list of markets that it says engage in counterfeiting and copyright violations.

“The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today released the findings of its 2021 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy (the Notorious Markets List). The Notorious Markets List highlights online and physical markets that reportedly engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy,” the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement on Thursday.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the global trade in counterfeit and pirated goods undermines critical U.S. innovation and creativity and harms American workers.

This illicit trade also increases the vulnerability of workers involved in the manufacturing of counterfeit goods to exploitative labor practices, and the counterfeit goods can pose significant risks to the health and safety of consumers and workers around the world.

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